Table of Contents
I'm a novelist and have an interest in space science and physics. I've been a programmer for more than 40 years and I like reviewing new and up-and-coming authors. I have become a committed member of the OpenSimulator community.
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Story Structure (Hero's Journey)
The Hero's Journey is an overlay for the 4-part story structure. See how they work in conjunction with the character arc.
Orbital Calculator
I needed to calculate orbital characteristics for any orbit around any gravitational mass (because I write sci-fi stories), so I wrote this program because I'm a programmer and I'm too lazy to do it by hand all the time. The program has expanded over the last few years, sometimes from suggestions by other writers. I make it freely available and as simple to use as possible. It now has a list of functions as long as your arm (assuming you're not a tentacle user), and the number of downloads is now in triple quadruple digits (1,223 at the time of this edit).
I wrote Orbital Calculator to handle just about any proposition. You can add new gravitational masses (the things you want to orbit) for easy and consistent recall. You can add satellites too, so you can recall their orbital data at any time. You can create temporary calculations (not stored for later recall), and you can edit orbital parameters without changing the stored data, so you can play “what if…”.
Even better yet, you can export any data for satellites or gravitational masses – choosing exactly which ones to export – and share the files with other users, who can import them into their own databases.
It runs on Windows & Linux (32-bit and 64-bit versions available for both platforms), and there is an armv7l version too (can you say Raspberry Pi?).
Note: you can click on any of the images to display them full size
How Big Is The Universe?
I recently came across a youtube video explaining a method for multiplication that was quite different from long multiplication. To explain why this was so interesting, let’s first talk about long multiplication and what’s wrong with it, and then we'll calculate the size of the visible universe in centimeters.
Orbital Shenanigans
Edited: 2019-03-14
Sometimes when you do some research – actually, quite often – you find out some really interesting stuff and end up changing your mind. In my story, I had some people on the ground on Mars, and wanted a spacecraft in a geostationary orbit above them to give them communications between them at all times. Just for info, when talking about geostationary orbits, the accepted term for Mars is aerostationary. I’ll use geostationary and geosynchronous because it’s my blog and although the aero prefix is accepted, it isn’t mandatory.
Rules on Reviewing
First off, you should know I only have a limited amount of time, so I can't review a hundred novels at once. Sorry, but that's basic physics for you. If I agree to review your novel, you may have to wait a while for me to get around to it, and then I'll need time to read it. I only review hard copies.
Please note that I have a preference for science fiction. If I get multiple requests and only one of them is science fiction, guess which one I'll choose.